


Ford, Welcome to Your Next Adventure

by Plaid_Sharks



Category: Gravity Falls, Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Autistic Carlos, F/F, F/M, Ford is a member of Carlos' team, Ford is bored, M/M, My First Fanfic, Not used to this site, Please be nice, Stan's not helpful
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-28
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-07-27 05:17:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7605052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Plaid_Sharks/pseuds/Plaid_Sharks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"University of What It Is? What kind of nerd name is that?"<br/>"I've... been thinking of becoming a college teacher.."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Of Doubt and Ennui

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I'm Plaid Sharks. This isn't my first ever fanfic, just the first one on this site. Constructive criticism is highly appreciated, please.

Westcoast Tech... that had been one six-fingered man's dream college as a teenager. Now he knew more from his travels and adventures than he could've ever learned at any school. There were so few things left, he almost had the secrets of the universe, but his mind still ached for more knowledge or.. or something he just couldn't place.

He had tried asking his twin brother, but even after _everything_ , he was still the skeptical, narrow-minded old man he always was. Good ol' Stanley.

The man's mind flitted back to Gravity Falls; that little town in Oregon. He thought of the limited time he had spent with the grand-niece and nephew he'd never known he had. It was a shame he hadn't had a proper apprentice (his own brother certainly didn't, and still doesn't, count)... and then it came to him: the truth of the unknown ache he had.

He needed to share what he had learned, what he knew, with young minds eager to learn for themselves! It was perfect: become a teacher. Where? That was a good question... go back to Gravity Falls and teach at the high school? That wouldn't work.

The high school minds of that town would never listen; there was also the Nevermind All That act Mayor Tyler had passed... there had to be another way.

He opened the laptop they had brought onto the boat; oh, the internet truly was a wonderful thing. There was still so much to learn about his own dimension (he was gone for thirty years), and this provided the perfect method to learning. He began searching, using the wi-fi router he made to supply a strong, fast internet connection for their little boat. He had to make sure his brother was busy; there would be no interruptions, no distractions in his search.

 

  Surprisingly, it only took seconds to find what he needed (of course the first result was West Coast Tech, but he found he wanted something a little smaller). The next one, however... that was different: "The University of What It Is," he said quietly to himself. There was something ominous about it, but it held a certain truth to the title he certainly liked. He clicked the link and read the articles. _Well this is promising_ , he thought with barely contained delight. _And they're looking for teachers!_ Oh this was perfect. He quickly sent them an e-mail with a rather extensive list of the reasons he was qualified (his twelve Ph.Ds were included of course, as well as a detailed individual description of each one). The man waited.  

Any possible concern his brother might have hadn't even occurred to him until-- "Hey, what's the word, Sixer?" Ford nearly jumped in his chair and looked behind himself, sighing when he saw his brother.

"Woah, calm down, don't have a heart attack," Stanley teased. "What are you doing in the dark, you're like some sort of vampire, or... somethin'."

"Stanley, what have I told you about knocking?" Ford scolded, sighing at his brother's antics.

"Eh, knocking, schmocking," he replied with a shrug. Even for someone his age, Stanley was still the most immature man Ford knew (not counting Fiddleford of course). "Anyway, what are you up to?" He asked again, leaning against the far wall.

"Just doing some research," Ford replied, turning back to the monitor. Annoyingly, Stanley had approached him and began reading over his shoulder.  
"University of What It Is?" He read aloud. "What kind of nerd name is that?"

  
"It's not a nerd name!" Ford protested, sighing. "I've... been thinking of becoming a teacher." His brother frowned, yet Ford continued, "it's not as prestigious as West Coast Tech, but it's darn close. I just want it as a part time job, for a little while."

  
"You're not still mad at me over that whole science project thing, are you?

  
"Wha-- No! Of course not, I just think it would be a great opportunity for a while. Look, you can accompany me if you want."

  
Stanley frowned, seemingly in deep thought. "How long?"  
"Maybe a few months, or longer if they need trips to be made to gather data." Now Ford frowned. He felt so bad for leaving his brother again, but he really wanted to do this.  
"Fine, fine, cut the trip short, I'll join you for a while, then I'm out," Stanley replied, trying to seem calm. Ford sighed in relief and gave his brother a side hug. "Hey, we might be able to hit more beaches and babes along the way back," Ford added to lighten the mood.

  
Stanley gave a small smile at this and left the room while Ford gathered his thoughts.


	2. The Decision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'He calmly grabbed a spoon and hopped on his bed. As he dug into his snack, he checked his phone again and nearly choked on his pudding.'

Another long day... Carlos returned to his small studio apartment feeling absolutely exhausted; not physically so much as mentally (and somewhat emotionally). All he wanted to do was sit on his bed and blare the loudest music he could through his headphones. 

First, however, he'd take out his phone and check any personal or work-related emails. After exchanging his teaching lab coat for his lounge lab coat and a pair of pajama pants, Carlos jumped onto his bed and took out his phone. He lay back, sighing as he looked at the screen... Oh good, more applications from people who think they're sooo qualified, he thought as he read through. 

Some of the emails made him scoff: underqualified, can barely spell their own name... this one was applying for the wrong field! He only sighed and forwarded them to the head of the science department, adding the caption 'Duds'. 

Oh look, one more... Carlos thought, opening the one he had missed. He tried to keep his expectations neutral, but after so many days of so many duds... it was like making a discovery you swear would change the world, and it turns out someone had already made it years before and found it had failed anyway.  
He shook his head and started skimming through the email. Then he stopped. Carlos read through it more carefully. He gasped and practically broke the screen to forward this one ('We might have it!' He had captioned). He waited for a reply with bated breath. 

His stomach growled. Clearly he should've eaten before this, but he had been too exhausted, and now too excited, to care about his nutrition intake. He brushed it off and kept waiting; his stomach kept growling. He waited it, it growled, he waited, it growled, it growled. 

"Oh, shut up," Carlos scolded it as he moved to stand. He walked to his fridge and opened it, not surprised to find it nearly empty. Oh, man, I forgot to go shopping, he thought as he scanned the shelves. Wait! Pudding! Dibs! His hand shot to the shelf, grabbing the small treat. He eagerly tore it open before thinking, Man, I need a life... oh well. Pudding. 

He calmly grabbed a spoon and hopped on his bed. As he dug into his snack, he looked at his phone again; and almost choked on his pudding.  
'Send him an email. We need him.'

Carlos typed in a flurry of fingers and a nearly broken screen:  
'Dear Stanford Pines,  
We at the University of What It Is feel you are more than capable to join us at our university. Your application was not only acceptable, but unbelievable and very impressive. We look forward to have you working with us.'  
Beaming, he sent the e-mail to the applicant and lay back, feeling much better about today. 

He threw the now empty pudding cup into the nearby waste-basket and slid his headphones in. Tomorrow, he hoped, would be great. He looked through his ipod, selected a song, turned it to full volume, then closed his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had trouble with italics in this chapter. Please help.


	3. The Unbearably Long Journey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "He's been in there for days," he mused quietly, "never lets his eyes off that thing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, I know it's been a while. Well, I've been dealing with school, depression, anxiety, working on graduation, all fun stuff...yay... I apologize for taking, like, six months or so, but here it is! New chapter! Finally here! Commencing work on number four!

Ford kept in contact with Carlos all throughout the remainder of his journey. Stan, of course, remained indignant. He'd had enough of being stuck in strange towns; he wanted to exercise, get out there, see what more the strangeness of the world had to offer... his, no, their childhood dream.

He couldn't see how Ford becoming a college teacher could possibly accommodate that, and he certainly couldn't see how Ford could even want this. Stan looked back to the small cabin on their boat. "He's been in there for days," he mused quietly, "never lets his eyes off that thing."

With a sigh, the twin looked back into the distance. _Are we even there yet? We've been out for weeks,_ he thought, checking his map for the fourteenth time that day, _it's so foggy I can barely see a thing._

Once again, he looked back to the cabin. "Hey, poindexter!" He called in a parched, irritated voice.  
"Yes, Stanley?" That annoyingly professional voice answered questioningly. He poked his head out of the doorway, a cheerful smirk prominent against his features. 

"Didn't you build something to remove this fog?" Stan asked, "I can't see where we're going."   
"Maybe you just need new glasses," Ford answered, his smirk growing into a smile. 

Stan rolled his eyes, unable to hold back his own smirk. He turned back to look into the distance. "Seriously, though, magic fog-remover? It's thicker than your brain out here!"

"I think it's closer to the size of your ego," Ford replied, with a sideglance toward his brother. Once he felt the "kind of gentle" shove from his brother, Ford merely chuckled and moved to the chest nearby. From it, he pulled out what seemed to be a remote. After flicking a switch, there was a low rumble, followed by a brief wind, and the fog was cleared. 

"Finally," Stan grumbled, as Ford was taking out a telescope.   
"Why are you so dismal all of a sudden?" He asked.  
"Why are you so hoity-toity?" came the reply. Ford merely rolled his eyes and peered through the telescope. "We're almost there!" He announced gleefully, "Stanley, take the wheel!"   
"Finally," Stan said, though Ford could detect the sarcasm in his voice.  
 _What's his problem?_ he wondered, watching his brother move to steer the boat.   
Ford merely shook it off and put away the telescope, then disappeared back into the cabin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for this chapter being rather short, but I did what I could. I'm sorry, I'd like to be more focused on this story in the future, but I just joined a few new fandoms and I'm still working on school and drama club.


End file.
